Ziraat Times Team Report
Srinagar: The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has notified the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Amendment Rules, 2025, introducing a series of changes to the Forest Conservation Rules 2023. The amendments, notified on August 31, alter the framework for granting permissions to projects requiring diversion of forest land, drawing mixed reactions from conservationists and community stakeholders.
What the amendments could mean for J&K
A key change relates to the concept of “working permission.” Under the new rules, the Centre may allow certain works in linear infrastructure projects — such as roads, railways, and transmission lines — even before final Stage-II clearance is granted. This means agencies may mobilise resources and start preliminary work once Stage-I or in-principle approval is issued.
The notification further clarifies that Stage-II, or final approval, will only be granted once state governments submit satisfactory compliance reports of Stage-I conditions.
Exemptions
The rules also provide exemptions for specific sectors deemed of “national importance,” or “public interest.” Such projects can now submit applications offline, bypassing the mandatory online filing system.
Special provisions have also been created for the critical and strategic minerals sector. Mining projects under this category will now be required to undertake compensatory afforestation, but with a dispensation: degraded forest land double the diverted area will suffice.
Another significant change is that declaring compensatory afforestation land as “protected forest” is no longer mandatory. Earlier, it was compulsory under the Indian Forest Act, 1927, ensuring stronger legal safeguards for such lands. The new rules allow state forest departments discretion to either transfer and mutate land in favour of the Forest Department or declare it as protected forest.
For regions like Jammu & Kashmir, which are already facing ecological pressures from infrastructure expansion, mining, and climate-induced disasters, the amendments could have far-reaching consequences.
